One Morning in Potaissa - Gang Rape Galore

[Blue]

An interesting story.
I studied Latin for nine years at school and read a lot about Roman history. Although I was still quite young at the time, I had already been dealing with rape fantasies.
What I only really realized while reading this story: Rape as a weapon has actually been used since ancient times and is often described in literature. But strangely enough, I've never consciously read a story from Roman times that described rape of this intensity. If I did, it was only mentioned in very brief words that prisoners were raped. That seems to be a taboo subject somehow. All the more wonderful to finally read such a detailed story on this topic.

[Lucius]

An interesting story.
I studied Latin for nine years at school and read a lot about Roman history. Although I was still quite young at the time, I had already been dealing with rape fantasies.
What I only really realized while reading this story: Rape as a weapon has actually been used since ancient times and is often described in literature. But strangely enough, I've never consciously read a story from Roman times that described rape of this intensity. If I did, it was only mentioned in very brief words that prisoners were raped. That seems to be a taboo subject somehow. All the more wonderful to finally read such a detailed story on this topic.

To the best of my knowledge, war rape was accepted and even expected back then, so Ziptia's ordeal was just another morning for the soldiers. It runs through history -- Bato and Platino can be regarded as the ancestors of Zoran and Darko -- lineal, perhaps, if they returned home to Illyria once discharged from the ala!

[Nickamano]

Ahhh, always have room for the Romans! I really enjoyed this, quick authentic set up, no need to show the battle, just the aftermath with the prisoners brought back to camp. I really enjoyed Ziptia's (is that an authentic name? Very interesting) POV on the rapes. And The way you described the anal violation was second to none!!

The Alternate Reality "Gladiator" ending was fun a surprise. too. Really fun story with what felt like the majority of the word count applied to the action sequences rather than set up or consequence. Thanks for adding your talent to the contest.

[Lucius]

Ahhh, always have room for the Romans! I really enjoyed this, quick authentic set up, no need to show the battle, just the aftermath with the prisoners brought back to camp. I really enjoyed Ziptia's (is that an authentic name? Very interesting) POV on the rapes. And The way you described the anal violation was second to none!!

Thank you! I've gone wild with the set-up for my first story here, and it was a deliberate change. Honestly, the battle was just too one-sided to describe -- thirty well-trained, armoured cavalrymen surprising a dozen of peasant rebels on foot, just a couple of mail shirts between them...

Ziptia is an authentic Dacian name, it's in Onomasticon Thracicum (OnomThrac) : répertoire des noms indigènes de Thrace, Macédoine orientale, Mésies, Dacie et Bithynie, page 404 (heh!)

The entry goes [Ziptia], Ziftia (f.) (dac.). It means that it was inscribed as Ziftia on the stone, but the proper Dacian form was with the 'zip' root. Of course I was seduced by its similarity to 'zip tie'.

The Alternate Reality "Gladiator" ending was fun a surprise. too. Really fun story with what felt like the majority of the word count applied to the action sequences rather than set up or consequence. Thanks for adding your talent to the contest.

I didn't want to kill the brazen hussy! Perhaps I'll do a story with Ferocia fighting on the arena of the Flavian Amphitheatre yet!

[Vela Nanashi]

You did a better job laying down history this time in an easier to understand fashion, even if there was a lot of it, still good work there, I don't have much to say about it myself as I am way too uneducated in history to comment on such things.

Poor Ziptia, you really caught the horror of her situation here. Not commenting a lot since I am swept up in the reading.

Maybe if she fights well she can have a less horrible life as a gladiator, though they probably will have some lions or tigers rip her apart.

Good story though not quite my cup of tea, it is however what I think is a very realistic depiction of the horror she endured.

[Claire]

This was much easier for me to get into than your first story and I liked it a lot! If you had rooted this a little more in Ziptia's perspective I could see this be the opening chapter of a longer story that depicts her life as a gladiator. I would defnitely read more.

I really liked that you gave the rape scene itself some room and didn't gloss over it. Personally, I would have liked it even more if you had let me peek a little deeper into the minds of Ziptia and her rapists, but that is just a personal preference.

Like @AdmiralPiet I also enjoyed the little detail of Ziptia not speaking perfect Latin. And knowing you, I have to ask: Did you try to make the way her Latin sounds broken resemble how Dacian would speak imperfect Latin? Be honest, you spent at least an hour contemplating what syntax and grammar to give her, didn't you?

[Lucius]

You did a better job laying down history this time in an easier to understand fashion, even if there was a lot of it, still good work there, I don't have much to say about it myself as I am way too uneducated in history to comment on such things.

Not a lot of history, not at all!

Maybe if she fights well she can have a less horrible life as a gladiator, though they probably will have some lions or tigers rip her apart.

Damnatio ad bestias? Only if she makes a lot of trouble -- kills someone outside of the arena, for example. She's going to be trained, then likely put against her fellow Dacian captive women in a shirts vs. skins melee... just kidding, no shirts are likely to be involved as the two teams of topless girls go at it while the Emperor looks on.

If Ziptia is very good she'll be fighting solo.

Good story though not quite my cup of tea, it is however what I think is a very realistic depiction of the horror she endured.

Thank you!

[Lucius]

This was much easier for me to get into than your first story and I liked it a lot! If you had rooted this a little more in Ziptia's perspective I could see this be the opening chapter of a longer story that depicts her life as a gladiator. I would defnitely read more.

I really liked that you gave the rape scene itself some room and didn't gloss over it. Personally, I would have liked it even more if you had let me peek a little deeper into the minds of Ziptia and her rapists, but that is just a personal preference.

Thank you! Going deeper into the minds of her rapists -- not sure it would've been worth an effort. Giving Ziptia more inner monologue was possible, but I wanted to sell the idea that she was overwhelmed by the perspective of her young life being about to end in a most horrifying way. Ziptia was terrified by the cross -- who wasn't? She desired to stay as strong and brave as she could, but her thoughts would've been not a little incoherent, especially after the violations.

Like @AdmiralPiet I also enjoyed the little detail of Ziptia not speaking perfect Latin. And knowing you, I have to ask: Did you try to make the way her Latin sounds broken resemble how Dacian would speak imperfect Latin? Be honest, you spent at least an hour contemplating what syntax and grammar to give her, didn't you?

I wish! I don't think we know that much about Dacian -- the Romans took care of it.

[AdmiralPiet]

Like @AdmiralPiet I also enjoyed the little detail of Ziptia not speaking perfect Latin. And knowing you, I have to ask: Did you try to make the way her Latin sounds broken resemble how Dacian would speak imperfect Latin? Be honest, you spent at least an hour contemplating what syntax and grammar to give her, didn't you?

I wish! I don't think we know that much about Dacian -- the Romans took care of it.

This reminds me. When I saw some snippets of teh show Spartacus I was very perplexed by the style in which they spoke.
Apparently the writers modified the english so the structure would resemble latin more.

[Lucius]

This reminds me. When I saw some snippets of teh show Spartacus I was very perplexed by the style in which they spoke.
Apparently the writers modified the english so the structure would resemble latin more.

Quite, I suppose they were inspired by Lewis Grassic Gibbon who had done it in the 1930s... Gibbon was better at it too. I just made Proculus and Priscus speak properly and gave Rectus a bit more freedom as a provincial rising from the ranks. As for the Illyrian cavalrymen, they would struggle with Virgil, although they would be at home with Catullus 16.